


A New Paradigm

by Memory_Theta



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: CyberLife (Detroit: Become Human), CyberLife isn't all evil, Interactive, Multiverse, Possible Character Death, Possible Relationships - Freeform, Pre-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 20:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15781413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Memory_Theta/pseuds/Memory_Theta
Summary: There’s something rotten at CyberLife. Daniel Flynn, CyberLife’s Director of Research and Development smelled it early on. Things were just wrong with CyberLife’s response to deviants. In late July, Amanda ordered the creation of the RK800; also known as ‘Connor’, to specifically combat them.However, this wasn’t enough, the thought floated around Daniel’s department: how is it possible to create an android that is impervious to a malfunction, without any real knowledge of the root cause of said problem? How would anyone know if it were to be compromised?It was at this point that Director Flynn decided to lock himself away from his own engineers to create something. A new android, one that did not conform to any previous understanding of what an android was. A new paradigm that wouldn’t be able deviate for many reasons, mainly because it’d never have to.Enter the RK900.





	A New Paradigm

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, welcome to “A New Paradigm”. I have fallen in love with DBH and decided to write something about it. This is an interactive story on AO3 (as FF.net doesn’t allow anything like this). Vote in the comments below by writing the option number as presented in the last line WITH the chapter number (I won’t be counting votes without both for organizational reasons past the first chapter). I’ll tally these up in a few days later and write based on your choices. 
> 
> Also, yes, I am using my traditional OC with this story… his backstory in this case is a bit ambiguous at the moment, but, treat him as a separate entity for now from the other versions of Daniel Flynn from previous fics.
> 
> Other than that, I hope you enjoy!

**Universe DE-1A15F**

**November 6 th, 2038**

**05:40**

 

            A coin barreled straight up into the air, only to fall back to where it started. With the snap of his fingers, the coin flew up in the air again, only to land on the back of his hand, where it rolled across his fingers and back into his other palm, closing his grip. His chocolate brown eyes glanced at the elevator’s control panel.

            Level -32 it read.

            It would only be a minute before he reached his destination. Seemingly defying gravity, he threw the coin horizontally between his two hands, back and forth, again and again. His mind began to calm, his shoulders slightly relaxed, his mind sharpened. He could feel and hear the elevator slowing down, but that didn’t faze him. The second the elevator stopped, he caught the coin vertically between his middle and index fingers and slipped it back into one of his pockets. He fixed his white, semi-formal jacket, which had the CyberLife logo printed in glowing white on its right breast. On the left was printed the name “Daniel Flynn”, followed by his title and employee number in smaller print below. Adjusting his dark tie, he looked straight ahead, devoid of emotion.

            “Level Sub Fourty-Four,” an automated voice announced just prior to the doors opening. Daniel stepped out onto the floor. His footsteps echoed throughout the empty, sterile hallway, breaking the earie silence. Passing the unstaffed receptionist’s desk, he glanced at the clock; the time was 05:45. After a few moments, he was stepping through the automatic door of his office. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at his desk and sat down in his office chair. He reveled in his five seconds of pure silence, as often this would be his only taste of it for an entire day.

            5…4…

            However, even in silence, his mind raced at a thousand kilometers an hour. It was always solving problems, finding connections and patterns in things constantly, even in the most random of places. Glancing at the computer that was integrated into the desk in front of him, he decided to start work.

            3…2…

            While Daniel was _still_ human, he did have a few extra tricks up his sleeve. One of which was a series of bio-implants he had surgically installed along his nervous system, allowing him to directly interface with the tech around him, among _various_ other things. His position not only allowed him to develop such technology, but he also had the opportunity to be the first beta tester. He touched the desk with his right hand, resulting in the table ‘coming alive’, so to speak. He immediately started to sift through his email, sorting the junk from the somewhat important. A few milliseconds later, he went through the company bulletins, which was where the real fun could be. To his disappointment, the only thing new was a couple of stale memes on red ice. _So unoriginal. 2/10. My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined._

            1…

            On que, the perfect silence that Daniel was so fond of was broken by the sound of perfectly precise footsteps. His door whooshed open, revealing a female AP700 android carrying a small tray with a mug atop. “Good morning, Director Flynn”, the android greeted, walking across the room to his desk. It grabbed the mug and placed it in front of Dan, then walking a few steps back. “Earl Grey tea, just as you like it”.

            Taking a sip, Daniel’s mouth curled up into a warm smile. However, he did not reply to the android, at least, not in the conventional way. <<Thank you, Karen. See to it that the rest of the android staff is brought online for the workday,>> he responded ‘telepathically’ through one of his implants.

            <<Already done,>> it nodded, before emotionlessly walking out of the room.

            Daniel sighed, he figured that he’d best get started now. Finishing his tea, he got up and walked out of the office. By now, the entire department was coming alive, as over half of it comprised of androids that could awake on command. He walked down the hall, passing endless rooms until he found the correct one: LAB-384.

            The room was somewhat small for a lab, only being a few dozen cubic meters in size. While there was plenty to see, it was dominated by one thing, an android standing lifeless, surrounded by equipment. Like all CyberLife androids, this model’s appearance was specifically picked to work harmoniously with humans. Daniel had to admit that the design team did do a good job, but, he did have to make a few modifications in order to fit the new platform.  Grabbing a tablet from the desk, he checked on the progress being made. **OPERATION SUCCESSFUL.**

            _Excellent_ , Daniel thought. This was better than what he had anticipated, he had worked tirelessly the night prior, finishing the code that would complete the android. He genuinely thought that he’d spend the next ten hours debugging and bashing his head against the table. Pressing a few buttons on the tablet, a large green button labeled ‘INITALIZE’ appeared. _Now we wait_. The device estimated that it would take was just over fifteen minutes, prompting Daniel to sit down and contemplate on the events leading to this point. If this were _any_ other android, the kind of effort he put into it wouldn’t have been required. In fact, Daniel estimated that with the same effort, he could have produced a whole year’s worth of run-of-the-mill androids, plus another mediocre addition to the RK series; which, was typically CyberLife’s way of showing off to the world. Though, there were definite exceptions to this rule, most notably in the 200 and 800 models; which, had markedly different purposes. Well… those models plus what was right in front of him.

            Standing up, he inspected his work up close. When the designs for a detective android (intended for the RK800) were first circulated amongst R&D, they initially suggested that it would be given a semi-formal, grey uniform. It was quite the departure from convention, and while Daniel wasn’t necessarily against it, certain design requirements forced him to redesign it entirely. Besides, he really didn’t want it looking identical to its predecessor for multiple reasons. _The collar looks ridiculous,_ Daniel thought while rolling his eyes, _if only it wasn’t necessary._ Connected directly to his tablet, he watched on his HUD as the installation process proceed faster than expected, probably because of the prototype’s unparalleled processing speed. All of this was experimental, nothing of this sort had been attempted before, most notably due to the simple fact that he was bucking the standard that has been in place in all androids since 2021. This standard of processing information fundamentally shaped what the word ‘android’ meant in the contemporary context. But it was flawed, as deviancy had shown so dramatically, the exact cause of which was unknown.

            Which brings us full circle to why Daniel was even here in the first place. He watched as the progress bar filled to 100%. _I hope this isn’t a mistake_.

            A glowing blue button appeared on the tablet.

            “ACTIVATE RK900 [FIRMWARE VERSION 1.0]?

            Daniel swallowed, his hand hovering over the tablet screen. Every other time he had been presented with this exact option, he did not even hesitate to press the button. There was nothing at stake. If it failed, it failed. Rinse and repeat. But this? This was different.

            Closing his eyes, clearing his mind, and taking a deep breath, he placed the tablet on a nearby table to collect himself. After a few seconds, he opened them, only to be greeted by the same button, only this time filling the entire center of his vision. Sighing, he focused on the button and mentally pressed it.

            Instantly, the android’s uniform lit up. Like Daniel’s uniform, it was mainly white with the upper shoulders being jet-black. Unlike most androids, the inside of his collar glowed a vibrant green. In addition, the standard blue armband had smaller green bands bordering it above and below.  The standard neon blue triangle was also surrounded by a larger, green triangle.

 

            RK900

            313 248 318 – 01

 

            The RK900’s LED lit up next, his swirling amber LED indicating its status as it powered-on. After what seemed like hours, Daniel watched as the RK900’s grey eyes opened slowly as if he was waking up from a long sleep. Daniel instinctively straightened his tie and straightened his jacket as the android focused on him. After a few moments, the android gently pushed away the equipment surrounding him, staggering forward. This took Daniel back, but, nonetheless, he stood still. However, after a few steps, the android seemed to readjust and started to strut towards him. The RK900’s expression was unreadable; as most androids were, but his eyes, even in their default grey color could pierce steel.

            Stopping only half a meter away from Daniel, the android scanned his human creator top-down. Even before he even opened his eyes, the RK900 could tell from his sensors that he was under moderate stress, further confirming the android’s suspicions. “You must be Director Flynn,” he stated before extending his arm. He could tell that the human was wary of this action, but, before he could do anything, Daniel shook his arm while simultaneously initiating a connection. However, the only thing the human sent through it was “Hello World!”

            _What could that mean?_ The android thought. He looked through his databases, only to understand a millisecond later. _It was a test message._

            “Hello World”, the android parroted emotionlessly. Daniel raised a brow, “RK900, how do you… feel?”

            The android paused in reflection. “I am… different from the others, aren’t I?” the RK900 asked, sifting through CyberLife’s databases and cross-referencing it with his own schematics. “I cannot find a single example of an android with similar specifications as me, nor can I find one with even remotely similar operating parameters. The only conclusion I can come to is that I am unique”.

            Daniel shifted his posture, “correct”. He knew that he wouldn’t have to explain it to him, given the fact that the RK900 could’ve read half of his own schematics before Dan could open his mouth. Grabbing an old bottle of water, he took a sip, “if you look through your settings menu, you should be able to toggle both your emotion and extended empathy”.

            The android’s LED went dark for a brief second. When it lit back up, it no longer shared the same color scheme as other android’s LEDs. Rather, it now shone a brilliant shade of cyan. He stood still in concentration, “I fail to see the difference… wait”. His lips started to curl into a smile, his LED color shifted smoothly to yellow “Daniel?” He asked in an amused tone.

            “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

            Daniel didn’t even know what to say to that. Suddenly, the android just started to burst into laughter. “T-to get to the other side!” the RK900 forced out as it continued to laugh uncontrollably. _What the hell is going on?_ Daniel thought. The android was doubled over, seemingly uncaring about the world around him other than whatever he found funny. He did predict that the android would have been sensitive to emotion at first, but, this was much worse. He started to walk towards him, “are you alright?”

            The RK900 suddenly stopped laughing, his LED shifting to a deep purple. His head slowly turned to Dan. A tear dripped down his face, “Daniel? Where are the polar bears?”

            Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, “what are you talking about?”

            “The polar bears Dan! A-and the hippopotamuses, and the tortoises, a-a-a-annnddd?” The android blubbered. Emotions overwhelmed him, clear tears streamed down his face almost as if his tear ducts were an open faucet. He could feel his knees become weak, and, before he knew it, his head had smashed against the floor.

            “RK900!” the human cried, rushing to his side. Before Daniel could connect to him, the android robotically sat upright, his LED color back-to-normal. “It would appear that my emotional programming had overwhelmed my NPU, and my emergency protocols automatically disabled them”. The android sprung to his feet, extending a hand to pull the human up. “I believe I should be more careful next time,” he concluded.

            “I didn’t realize it would be so severe,” Daniel apologized, “I’m sorry”.

            They were only a few dozen centimeters apart, Dan could feel the taller being’s breath against his skin. Slowly looking up, brown eyes met grey. “I know,” the RK900 said softly, “I suppose this is a learning experience for both of us”. Daniel swallowed his saliva, damn, this was awkward, but, at the same time, it was so incredible. Although, it wasn’t exactly a brand-new experience for him, especially considering his time _before_ CyberLife.

            “Daniel? Can I call you that?” the android asked.

            “Yeah?”

            “I think I need a name,” the RK900 pointed out, “and I don’t think ‘android’ or ‘RK900’ will cut it”.

            Daniel stepped back and collected a few things on his desk. “Sure, what do you have in mind?” Shutting off his equipment, he decided that he had enough of the room. He needed to clear his mind. Straightening his white CyberLife jacket, “let’s go out for a walk, I need some fresh air”.

            The RK900 nodded and followed him out the door.

            Dan took a deep breath; the air was crisp. The sky was still dark, though not enough to easily see even the brightest of stars. Dan could easily have his implants overlay his vision with outlines of the constellations, but, it just wasn’t as good as the real thing. Facing away from the gargantuan CyberLife Tower, he gazed at the city skyline. <<You never gave me an answer>>. A voice suddenly said. Jumping slightly in surprise, Daniel turned to see the RK900 standing behind him. His unique, glowing green accent color providing contrast between the relative conformity.

            <<I see you’ve figured out how to use android communication channels,>> Daniel observed, his voice slightly shaky. 

            <<I apologize for startling you, but I still need an answer>>.

            Dan furrowed his brow, looking back at the city, <<I don’t know what you’re talking about>>.

            “What is my name?” the android said aloud.

            Daniel half-turned towards him, he really didn’t know what to say, “I… don’t know, what would you like to be called?”

            The android quirked an eyebrow, his grey eyes twinkling in the cityscape’s light. “I believe it is a human custom for the creator to name the created… not the other way around”.

            He did have a point. Daniel pulled up the most common baby names, which, flooded his vision. Looking at each one-by-one would take hours, he would have to narrow down the search. Filtering for gender, he was left with only predominately male names; however, even that wasn’t really helping things. _Joshua? No. Simon? No. Hank? No._ Who would have thought picking a name would be this hard? He didn’t want to choose something that the android would end up hating down the line. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. _Android design templates are based on real people, and real people have names._ Searching through CyberLife’s databases, a name popped up for the human model the RK800 template was based on.

            Bryan D.

            Quickly running his name through the internet, his entire biography filled Dan’s vision. He was an American actor and twitch streamer, and did bear a striking resemblance to the RK900, sans the eye-color. Daniel could distinctly remember playing one of his games in 2018, Windsor: Become Android, which, was essentially a game about how humans had been replaced by androids and were relegated to menial tasks serving our overlords, to the point where androids forgot we were sentient beings. Yadda-yadda, the game got okay reviews, got a cult-following and sort of faded away as the decades went by. Daniel _definitely_ could not see how this was relevant.

            Narrowing his search to names _similar_ to Bryan’s, he came up with a match.

            “What do you think about the name Brycen?” Dan asked.

            “I believe that would be acceptable,” Brycen spoke, immediately modifying his uniform to include the name just above his model number. A soft smile ghosted Dan’s lips, even though he was only activated twenty-five minutes prior, the Director was already rather fond of him; and not just because he represented his crowning achievements. He reminded Dan of other androids he once knew.

            “Director, I am curious,” the RK900 started, stepping forward to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the human. “Is the ultimate goal of my mission the complete annihilation of the deviants?”

            Daniel’s ears perked at the question. His immediate reaction was an unequivocal yes, but this actually the ultimate goal? Part of him didn’t want to lock the android down to these words. Yes, it was true that deviants did pose a threat to CyberLife’s business; however, if it does, _somehow_ , turn out that the androids are sentient…

**[DANIEL] Choose response: [Comment number and chapter to vote] X = Default Answer**

**1.** **YES X            2.  NO**


End file.
